OVERVIEW

Laughing is good for health, which is a social good: one would say that Aristotle, with “catharsis”, also included this short circuit, this collapse of our ghosts which down the centuries has been for the polis matter of embarrassment and censorship much more than the heroic acceptance of destiny (tragedy); from mythology to the star system, from the Ancient Comedy to the stand-up comedy, the comic effect  manifests itself in theatre, even before as regression or wit, as an irresistible behavior of shared demystification.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course, through a rich and articulated theory of exempla, aims to train students to appreciate the mechanisms of theatrical comedy, understood as a physical act and a relationship behavior, player presence and show project; empirical science that perhaps hides within itself the very secret of the historical and functional genesis of theater.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

In particular, the course aims to develop in the students some skills in relation to theatrical comedy: the ability to appreciate their intensity and quality; to distinguish between humor and comedy, word and action; to recognize in the comic effect the contribution of sharing among the spectators; to reconstruct the role of the dynamics of carnival lowering and/or reversal; to develop sensitivity to the function of rhythm.

PREREQUISITES

Elementary knowledge of theatre history.

TEACHING METHODS

Live lessons, with the aid of audiovisual material.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Looking at and commenting on the theatrical performances of great comic actors, we’ll talk about experiences (Petrolini, Govi, Totò, Grock, Moretti, Fo, Benigni, Proietti, others), techniques (physical and verbal comedy: entrées and stunts; grammelot and “bad words”; the mask), comic topoi (among all the descensus ad infera at the origins of the professional theater, from the fools to the Harlequin devil); but also about ideas (Baudelaire, Freud, Bergson, Pirandello, Bataille, Bachtin, Brecht) and a short history (from the Commedia dell'Arte to the proliferation in puppets, in the circus, in the cabaret, in the beginning cinema); with brief hints to the contribution of writing (the “comedy”: from Aristophanes to Michael Frayn).

Monographic course 2022-23: "Dance macabre: laughing with death"

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Mandatory texts for 6 CFU

M. Bachtin, L’opera di Rabelais e la cultura popolare, Torino, Einaudi, 1979

C. G. Jung, P. Radin, K. Kerenyi, Il briccone divino, Milano, Bompiani, 1979

Mandatory texts for 9 CFU

M. Bachtin, L’opera di Rabelais e la cultura popolare, Torino, Einaudi, 1979

C. G. Jung, P. Radin, K. Kerenyi, Il briccone divino, Milano, Bompiani, 1979

G. Celati, Dai giganti buffoni alla coscienza infelice; Il tema del doppio parodico; Su Beckett, l’interpolazione e il gag; tre saggi in Id., Finzioni occidentali. Fabulazione, comicità e scrittura, Torino, Einaudi, 1975, pp. 53-194 (o edd. segg.)

Other recommended essays

S. De Matteis, Il teatro delle varietà. Lo spettacolo popolare in Italia, Firenze, la Casa Usher, 2008 (o edd. segg.)

E. Marinai, Il comico nel teatro delle origini, Pisa, Titivillus, 2003 (o edd. segg.)

V. Pandolfi, Copioni da quattro soldi, Firenze, Landi [1958] (o edd. segg.)

​Other recommended pieces
Aristofane, Le donne alle Tesmoforie; Plauto, Pseudolo; Adam de la Halle, Le jeu d’Adam; Ruzante, Betìa; Flaminio Scala, Il Teatro delle favole rappresentative (raccolta di canovacci); Carlo Gozzi, Re Cervo; Georges Feydeau, Maurice Desvallières, L'albergo del libero scambio (L’hôtel du libre échange); Tristan Rémy, Entrate clownesche (Entrées clownesques); Ettore Petrolini, Teatro; Eduardo De Filippo, Sik sik artefice magico; Samuel Beckett, Aspettando Godot; Dario Fo, Mistero buffo; Michael Frayn, Rumori fuori scena (Noises off)

For non-attending students

A text of your choice among the recommended is required.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

ROBERTO CUPPONE (President)

ANGELA ZINNO

ESTER FUOCO (Substitute)

ROBERTO TROVATO (Substitute)

LESSONS

LESSONS START

Tuesday 14 February 2023

Class schedule

COMIC THEATER

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Oral.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The evaluation will be in equal parts (3/3) a) on learning the informative contents of the prescribed texts, b) on the ability to critically process their contents, and c) on the personal in-depth study.

Exam schedule

FURTHER INFORMATION

It is recommended to contact the teacher for bibliographic indications or materials related to the lessons; to solve any problems in the availability of texts; to agree on motivated changes to the program.